How to Say How Are You In Bahasa

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I want to talk to you how to say [how are you?] in the Indonesian language. As usual, we will also be watching scenes from movies where this phrase is spoken so that you can see for yourself how this phrase is used by the Indonesian people.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, without further ado, let's get started!

How to Say How Are You In the Indonesian Language

The most common phrase that is used by the Indonesian people to say how are you is,

Apa kabar?

If translated word by word to English, [apa] means [what] and [kabar] means [news]. 

[Apa kabar?] is the most used phrase by the Indonesian people when they meet each other and want to know about someone's health or situation.

How to Pronounce Apa Kabar

Here is how you pronounce [apa kabar?]

Next, we will learn how to answer [apa kabar?] if this phrase is being asked to you.

How to Answer Apa Kabar

The most common answer to the question [apa kabar?] is,

Baik.

Here is how you pronounce [baik].

This is the most common answer used by the Indonesian people. [Baik] means [good]. Even though the person is not feeling well, a lot of times, Indonesian people still respond to the question [apa kabar?] with [baik].

Another phrase that is used by Indonesian people when replying to [apa kabar?] is,

B aja or biasa aja.

B is short for [biasa]. [B aja] or [biasa aja] in English is translated as [nothing much]. And this is how you pronounce [b aja] in the Indonesian language.

[B aja] is usually used in a casual conversation. So, if you are meeting the person for the first time, I think it's appropriate if you reply [apa kabar?] with [baik]. 

And here is how you pronounce the phrase [b aja]. Let's watch the video below.

[Baik] can be used in formal situations or in casual conversation. You can't be wrong if you reply [apa kabar?] with [baik].

Examples of Apa Kabar In Use

In this section, I will gather examples from movies and real-life situations where the Indonesian people say this phrase [apa kabar?], so you can see for yourself how the Indonesian people pronounce and use the phrase [apa kabar?].

The first scene we are about to watch is taken from a TV serial called Para Pencari Tuhan, Season 15, Episode 4 (2022). Let's watch it below.

Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Soni: Apa kabar, pa? (How are you, dad?)

Ayah Soni: Baik. (Fine.)

Soni: Papa ngga nanya kabar aku? (You're not asking me how I've been?)

Ayah Soni: Lara mana? (Where is Lara?)

Soni: Pa, aku yang ada di sini. Kenapa Papa malah nanya Lara? (Dad, I'm the one who is here. Why are you even asking Lara?)

This is a conversation between a father and a son. As you can see, Soni, being the son, uses the phrase [apa kabar?] to ask about his father's condition, and then his father replies with [baik].

Let's also learn other words that are used in the short clip above.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Pa] is short for [papa]. It means dad.

[Ngga] = [tidak] = no.

[Nanya] is a casual way of saying [bertanya] or [menanyakan] = to ask.

[Aku] is informal for [saya] = I.

[Di sini] = over here.

So, I guess this wraps up today's article. If you have any questions regarding this topic, just leave them in the comment section below, and I'll be happy to answer them for you.

If I find another scene where the phrase [apa kabar?] is spoken, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading my article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.